Washington remains grape juice capital

Friday, September 14, 2012

Wine connoisseurs now recognize Washington for growing and producing fine vino, yet Washington has long held a lesser-known title: grape juice capital of the world. This year, the Evergreen State will produce half of America’s grape juice, earning Eastern Washington farmers $46 million. Concord grapes have been a hardy, dependable local crop for decades, and they’re easy to grow because they need little maintenance, tolerate cold winters, yield abundant fruit, and can be harvested by machine. Concord grapes fetch only about 25% of the cost of wine grapes. Otherwise, Concord farming might really boom. Did you know that the farmers cooperative that owns Welch's grape juice has its biggest U.S. operation in Grandview, in the Yakima Valley? Learn more in this Tri-City Herald article.